REI Automation was founded in 1990 as Reverse Engineering, Inc., specializing in providing reverse engineering and mechanical design services. In 1999, Grant Phillips and Paul Brown purchased stock in the business and began an expansion of the company’s capabilities and project scale. REI’s engineering staff is now one of the largest automation development teams in the Southeast United States.

In 2006, a new design and assembly facility was built in Columbia, South Carolina. A further plant expansion was celebrated in 2010.

In 2013, REI Automation formed a joint-venture with Technical Concepts, LLC to provide decommissioning and dismantlement services to the nuclear industry as REI Nuclear, LLC.